The Runes of the Earth: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant — Book One
Chapter 23: Part Two — 5. Against Time
by Donaldson, Stephen R.Linden Avery is engulfed by an overwhelming and paradoxical torment as she is pulled into a *caesure*, a rift outside of Time. She experiences simultaneous agonies: a sensation of ants devouring her flesh, an infinite white void of unbearable cold, and a desolate wasteland of shattered stone. Despite the unbearable pain, she remains conscious, unable to escape or succumb to madness. The chaos of the *caesure* defies the natural order of existence, leaving her suspended in a state where life and death lose their meaning, yet she persists in a nightmarish limbo.
Within the white void, Linden finds herself utterly alone, her presence the only marker of reality in an otherwise featureless expanse. Though she can move and feel the cold piercing her body, her actions lead nowhere, and her cries go unheard. The cold is so intense it feels like fire, yet without the passage of time, even her suffering is frozen in place. This isolation amplifies her despair, making her loneliness more unbearable than the physical pain, as she grapples with the futility of her existence in this timeless prison.
Simultaneously, Linden perceives a third reality—a ruined landscape of broken stone, where eerie, emerald-hued creatures called *skest* move among the rubble. These beings, once servants of a malevolent force, now tend to her with bitter care, offering food and water. She realizes she is inhabiting another’s body and mind, witnessing events beyond her control. The landscape reflects a fractured timeline, its stones representing shattered moments of existence, while the *skest*’s presence hints at deeper corruption.
Linden eventually recognizes the mind she is trapped in as Joan’s, Thomas Covenant’s ex-wife, who is under the influence of the Raver *turiya Herem*. Joan’s madness and despair manifest in self-destructive acts, each blow unleashing wild magic that further fractures time. Linden understands Joan’s power could unravel the Arch of Time, but her fragmented sanity limits her to sporadic destruction. The chapter ends with Linden confronting the horrifying scale of Joan’s devastation, realizing the Land’s fate hangs in the balance as the *caesure*’s chaos spreads.
FAQs
1. What are the three simultaneous avatars of the caesure that Linden experiences, and how do they affect her?
Answer:
Linden experiences three overlapping manifestations of the caesure: (1) formication, which feels like biting ants devouring her flesh and identity, causing unbearable pain; (2) a vast, gelid white void, a timeless, featureless realm of infinite cold and loneliness that isolates her completely; and (3) a shattered wasteland where skest (corrosive, emerald-lit creatures) move among broken stones, serving Joan, Covenant’s ex-wife. These avatars assault Linden simultaneously, tearing her apart physically, emotionally, and psychologically, leaving her trapped in a state of agony and dissociation outside of time.2. How does the chapter explore the theme of timelessness, and what are its consequences for Linden’s existence?
Answer:
The caesure exists outside chronological sequences, creating a paradox where Linden endures pain and isolation without the relief of death or unconsciousness. The text states, “She remained alive only because she occupied no consecutive moments during which she could have ceased to be.” This timelessness amplifies her suffering—her pain is eternal, her loneliness absolute, and her agency nullified. Without time’s structure, she cannot modulate her experiences or escape, mirroring the fragmentation of the shattered stones in the wasteland, which once formed a coherent whole but now exist as disjointed fragments.3. Analyze the significance of Linden’s realization that she is trapped in Joan’s mind. How does this connect to broader conflicts in the narrative?
Answer:
Linden’s discovery that she inhabits Joan’s mind reveals Joan’s tragic role as a puppet of turiya Herem, a Raver who exploits her despair to unleash destructive “Falls” (caesures) upon the Land. Joan’s self-harm—striking her temple to unleash wild magic—symbolizes how internalized trauma becomes a weapon. This connects to broader conflicts: (1) the corruption of power (wild magic used for chaos), (2) the consequences of unchecked pain (Joan’s madness vs. Linden’s resilience), and (3) the Raver’s manipulation of human weakness to destabilize the Arch of Time. Linden’s imprisonment underscores the stakes of resisting such nihilistic forces.4. What symbolic role do the skest play in the wasteland scene, and how do they reflect the chapter’s tone?
Answer:
The skest, emerald-lit creatures emitting “acid and gangrene” light, symbolize decay and servitude. Once minions of the Sarangrave’s lurker, they now tend to Joan, offering brackish sustenance and “bitter warmth”—a grotesque parody of care. Their corrosive touch mirrors the caesure’s destructive nature, while their pathetic mewling reflects the chapter’s tone of hopelessness. Their presence ties Joan’s torment to the Land’s history of corruption (e.g., the Illearth Stone) and reinforces the theme of life perverted by malice, as even assistance (their service) is tainted by suffering.5. Critical Thinking: How does the chapter’s depiction of pain challenge conventional notions of survival and sanity?
Answer:
The chapter subverts survival by presenting consciousness as a curse rather than a triumph. Linden wonders how Jeremiah and Anele endured their traumas, yet she cannot retreat into madness or blankness—her pain is inescapable because time’s suspension denies her the progression needed for relief or death. This challenges the idea of endurance as heroic; instead, it frames existence within the caesure as a violation of natural order. The Raver’s manipulation of Joan further questions sanity’s boundaries, suggesting that in extreme suffering, the mind may become a tool for destruction rather than a refuge.
Quotes
1. “She had entered a demesne of flux, inchoate and chaotic; altogether devoid of Time’s necessary sequences. Life could not exist outside the stricture of chronology. She remained alive only because she occupied no consecutive moments during which she could have ceased to be.”
This quote captures the chapter’s central theme of temporal dislocation and the horror of existing outside time. It introduces the caesure’s fundamental nature—a place where normal laws of existence break down, creating unbearable paradoxes.
2. “Instead of dying, she was caught in an eternity of incineration as though she had been struck by a bolt of lightning which would never end.”
A powerful metaphor for the protagonist’s suffering, this quote exemplifies the chapter’s visceral descriptions of agony. It conveys both the timelessness and unbearable intensity of her experience in the caesure.
3. “The raw damaged rocks before her appeared to be chunks of time, discrete instances of the substance which should have made existence possible; woven the world whole.”
This poetic description of shattered time-stones represents the chapter’s exploration of fractured reality. The imagery connects physical destruction with metaphysical collapse, showing how fundamental structures of existence are breaking down.
4. “Goaded by turiya Herem’s malice, Joan continued to strike herself, measuring out her despair against her temple. And with each blow, her power lashed out to create Falls, shattering coherent fragments of time until every moment within that fragment was torn apart.”
This pivotal moment reveals the source of the temporal destruction. It shows how personal torment becomes cosmic catastrophe, linking psychological trauma with world-ending consequences through the mechanism of wild magic.
5. “Wild magic could have unmade the entire landscape in one towering gout of power; broken the Arch of Time instantly. Trapped in Joan’s mind, however, Linden understood that she was incapable of such an act. Coercion and insanity fettered her pain: she could utter no cry louder or more sustained than this piecemeal devastation.”
This quote presents the tragic irony of immense power constrained by madness. It explains why the destruction occurs gradually rather than catastrophically, while foreshadowing greater threats to the Arch of Time.